"But you don't need to worry. You're in luck—I've got an Earthcore Flame Crystal right here. I obtained it back in the cultivation world, and I'll give it to you." With a flick of Quinn Windflower's hand, a purple-red crystal dropped into Joe Di's palm.
It looked like an ordinary crystal, but when Joe Di held it, he felt a scorching heat, as if he were clutching a blazing furnace.
Joe Di quickly bowed and said respectfully, "Senior, this is far too precious. I can't accept such a gift."
Joe Di naturally knew about the Earthcore Flame Crystal—it was a ninth-grade material capable of raising any flame by three levels. On the Aurora Continent, it was truly priceless.
Quinn Windflower chuckled, "It seems you know your stuff. This crystal is indeed valuable for you, but for me, it no longer serves any purpose."
"Thank you, Senior. I won't refuse it." Joe Di understood Quinn Windflower's meaning—the Earthcore Flame Crystal was no longer important to him.
Receiving this crystal made Joe Di respect Quinn Windflower even more deeply.
In fact, the Bonebrand Spirit Mark on Joe Di could easily be removed by Quinn Windflower with a mere gesture. Yet instead of doing so, Quinn Windflower gave him the Earthcore Flame Crystal, letting Joe Di upgrade his flame and remove the mark himself.
If Quinn Windflower helped him remove the spirit mark, everything about Joe Di would be exposed to him.
Other things aside, Joe Di's Stellar Meridian and World Tome were extraordinary. Besides those, he also possessed the gray stone with golden lightning. Any of these secrets, if revealed, could spell his death countless times over.
Quinn Windflower was upright and open-hearted, unwilling to learn any of his secrets.
For such a senior with this kind of character, Joe Di decided to help him after leaving, at least to help him escape this Heavenly Ruins.
Seeing Quinn Windflower resume refining array flags, Joe Di opened his hand, and a black flame appeared in his palm.
Just as Quinn Windflower was about to continue refining array flags, he stopped again, astonished at Joe Di's black flame. Dao fire was rare, but he'd seen it before. However, this black Dao fire was a first for him.
Joe Di raised his hand and took out the Earthcore Flame Crystal. He immediately sensed his Dao fire's desire to devour the crystal.
Without hesitation, Joe Di fed the Earthcore Flame Crystal to his Dao fire. The black flame instantly engulfed the crystal, erupting into a blaze several meters tall. Joe Di was shocked by his Dao fire, clearly sensing the black flame was like a black starry sky, with the crystal rolling and gradually melting away.
As the Earthcore Flame Crystal melted, the Celestial Nightfire grew even darker, and Joe Di could distinctly feel the temperature of his flame soaring.
After just half an hour, the Celestial Nightfire burst forth with a deep rumble. Joe Di was overjoyed—his Dao fire had reached the fourth-grade flame level.
But that wasn't the end. After the Celestial Nightfire reached grade four, its strength kept climbing. Another half hour passed, and the flame erupted with more rumbling, its temperature and aura rising to a new level.
Fifth-grade! Joe Di hoped the flame would reach grade six, but his Celestial Nightfire calmed down, turning into a black spark in his palm.
"What a fine flame, truly a fine flame." Quinn Windflower praised repeatedly as he watched the Celestial Nightfire advance.
With ordinary flames, the Earthcore Flame Crystal would raise them by at least three grades. But for Joe Di's Dao fire, it only went up two grades, and even that was a stretch.
Joe Di's Dao fire was already a peak third-grade flame. Using the Earthcore Flame Crystal, he barely managed to reach fifth grade—actually, it was less than two grades of improvement.
If the Dao fire was already fifth-grade or higher, the Earthcore Flame Crystal might only raise it by one grade.
Although his Celestial Nightfire didn't advance by three grades, reaching fifth-grade Dao fire already made Joe Di overjoyed.
He quickly thanked again, "Joe Di thanks Senior for your generosity. If you ever need anything, as long as I can do it, I will give it my all."
Quinn Windflower nodded, "Your name is Joe Di? Not bad, not bad. Go ahead and handle your business. When you're ready to leave, I do have something I need your help with."
This time, Joe Di's Dao fire swept out, and the Bonebrand Spirit Mark that had clung to his arm was directly stripped off by the flame. Joe Di took out a jade box, sealed the mark inside, and locked it away.
Joe Di sighed inwardly. Such a tiny difference can lead to huge consequences. When his Dao fire was third-grade, he couldn't remove the Bonebrand Spirit Mark no matter what. Now, with just a thought, he could strip it away. That's the difference.
The reason he hadn't removed the spirit mark before was because he knew this wasn't over. After Cheng Bijun went back, she would surely spread the word about him obtaining the Pocket World.
So he had to be prepared for an attack at any time. By leaving the spirit mark, he could sense when his enemy arrived.
Quinn Windflower still needed time to refine the array flags, and Joe Di didn't study his insights into arraycraft. Joe Di was already a seventh-grade Array King, which was impressive. What limited him now wasn't his array skills, but his cultivation level.
This cultivation level might make him a strong figure on the Aurora Continent, but once he left, he'd be nothing.
Joe Di took out a crystal given by Quinn Windflower. The dense spiritual energy made him so comfortable he almost stretched lazily. Fortunately, he knew he had to improve his cultivation quickly.
As he activated the Star River Art, the Stellar Meridian became clearer, and more than ten stars circulated in the river, drawing in spiritual energy and cycling it through his body.
With this spiritual energy, the Stellar Meridian shone even brighter, and the energy flowed more smoothly.
After several cycles, Joe Di broke through the bottleneck of the second stage of Soul Origin, reaching the third stage.
The crystal's energy kept flowing into Joe Di, and his aura kept rising—mid-stage, late-stage, and then perfection of Soul Origin stage three.
Crack! When the crystal in Joe Di's hand finally shattered, his cultivation reached the early stage of Soul Origin stage four.
Joe Di looked at the broken crystal in delight. Just one crystal had taken him from the peak of Soul Origin stage two to stage four—such crystals were truly incredible.
Unfortunately, he only had four of these crystals.
"Your cultivation technique is remarkable. Just one low-grade Immortal Crystal took you from Soul Origin stage two to stage four." Quinn Windflower's voice came, full of admiration.
"Is this a low-grade Immortal Crystal?" Joe Di asked in surprise. Did immortals really exist?
Quinn Windflower replied, "That's right, it's a low-grade Immortal Crystal. But I don't recommend you keep cultivating with these. If you get used to them, you'll have trouble switching to other spirit stones. Your supply is limited, and that's not good for your growth. More importantly, when you reach higher realms, you'll find your cultivation speed slows down. I suggest you use Immortal Crystals only when you hit bottlenecks."
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior," Joe Di said gratefully.
Quinn Windflower nodded, "Go on cultivating. In a month or two, I'll be able to start repairing Nightfall Starland again. You'll be busy then—the stronger you are, the better."
"Yes, Senior." Hearing he only had a month or two, Joe Di stopped cultivating and took out the Purple Sash Sand and Heaven Blade Steel.
He was preparing to forge his own weapon. Only by refining a personal weapon could his combat power keep multiplying.
Seeing Joe Di take out the Purple Sash Sand and Heaven Blade Steel, even Quinn Windflower sighed inwardly. He had once been a prodigy of Aurora Continent, but never as wealthy as Joe Di.
Heaven Blade Steel and Purple Sash Sand were treasures made for forging blades. Sometimes, even searching an entire planet wouldn't turn up either one.
Moreover, he'd heard that Heaven Blade Steel and Purple Sash Sand rarely appeared on the same planet. How did Joe Di find these treasures? He truly was favored by the heavens.
Seeing Joe Di preparing to forge a blade, Quinn Windflower said nothing.
Using Heaven Blade Steel and Purple Sash Sand to forge a weapon meant that even mediocre forging skills didn't matter. The weapon would grow alongside its owner, and as the cultivator advanced, so would the blade—as long as top-grade materials were added along the way.
Joe Di must have known that treasures forged from these two materials could be upgraded.